Erg
/ pace.

1. Set your pace. Nudge the split with the plus and minus buttons, or type it as 1:52.5. If you only know the watts or the calories an hour from the monitor, type that instead and the split follows.
2. Pick a piece. Choose a distance, a time or a calorie target. The finish time, or the metres covered, updates for the pace you set.
3. Read the chart. Tap any split to jump to it. The chart shows what each pace costs in watts and calories, and what it adds up to over a 2k.

The Row and Ski switch only changes the wording. Both monitors use the same formulas, so the numbers are identical for the same split.

The split is the time it would take you to cover 500 metres if you held your current pace. It is the big number in the middle of the monitor, and it is the one to steer by. A 2:00 split means four minutes per kilometre and eight minutes for a 2k. Lower is faster.

Because it is a pace rather than a total, the split lets you compare efforts across any distance. A 1:55 average over 5k and a 1:55 average over 500 metres are the same speed, even though one hurt for a lot longer.

The monitor turns pace into power with watts = 2.80 ÷ pace³, where pace is seconds per metre. The cube is the important part. Drag on the flywheel, like water on a boat, rises steeply with speed, so every second you take off the split costs more than the last.

• 2:10 to 2:00. About 159 to 203 watts, a rise of 27%.
• 2:00 to 1:50. About 203 to 263 watts, a rise of 30%.
• 1:50 to 1:40. About 263 to 350 watts, a rise of 33%.

This is why a split that feels only a little faster can blow you up in a minute. Watch the watts column in the chart above: the gaps widen as the split drops.

The calorie number comes from the monitor's formula: watts × 4 × 0.8604 + 300 per hour. It assumes the same efficiency for everyone and adds a flat 300 calories an hour. That makes it consistent and fair for a workout, but it is the machine's number, not an estimate of what your body actually burned.

It also explains why calorie pieces feel so different from metre pieces. Calories per minute rise almost in line with watts, while metres per minute rise with only the cube root of watts. Pull 10% more power and you earn about 7 to 8% more calories a minute but only about 3% more metres.

Calorie targets reward power. There is always a reason to pull harder, and bigger, stronger athletes have a larger edge than they do on a metre target. Plan the pace of a calorie piece like a sprint, not a row.

The lever on the side of the flywheel is the damper. It lets more or less air into the fan, which changes how heavy each stroke feels. It is not a difficulty setting. The monitor measures how quickly the flywheel slows down and accounts for it, so a harder damper does not make your split or watts more generous.

What actually matters is the drag factor, the resistance the monitor measures once the damper, the room and the dust in the fan have all had their say. Concept2, who make the rower and ski erg most gyms use, suggest most people train with the damper around 3 to 5. A higher setting feels like rowing a heavy boat and tends to wear out your legs before your lungs.

The 2k is the standard erg test, and nearly everyone goes out too hard. Pick a target split, check the finish time above, and row it in four parts:

• Start. A few hard strokes to get the flywheel moving, then settle within the first 150 metres. Sitting a second or two under target here is fine.
• First 1,000. Hold the target split exactly. It should feel too easy. That is correct.
• Third 500. The hard part. Keep the split from drifting by counting strokes in tens and focusing on the push with your legs.
• Last 500. Lift the rate and let the split fall as far as it will go over the final 250.

An even or slightly negative split is almost always faster than a fast start and a fade.

In functional fitness and hybrid racing, the erg is rarely rowed on its own. It is a station between thrusters and burpees, so the right split is one you can come off and still move. For most people that is 3 to 8 seconds slower than their 2k pace on metre pieces, and a harder, shorter push on calorie pieces where power pays off.

Use the piece section above to plan it. If the workout says 20 calories and you want to be off the rower inside a minute, the calculator tells you the split you need. Pair it with the WOD timer for intervals, or browse the workout library for something to try it on.